5 Stars. Sometimes it feels that everyone has strong opinions about Israel and the Middle East. Given the current war, I found myself forming my own strong opinions even though I knew practically nothing about the modern history of Israel and its relations with the Palestinians and surrounding […]
Goldie Vance by Hope Larson: Book Review
5 Stars. Oh my goodness! This is so stinking cute and smart! I was never a big mystery reader as a kid. I could never guess “whodunnit” and that irritated me. Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys were practically nonstarters for me. I wish Goldie Vance had been around back in the day because she would have turned me into a mystery reader for sure! […]
Get Well Soon by Jennifer Wright: Book Review
5 Stars. This book fascinated me from the moment I started reading. I made heavy use of the highlight function on my Kindle, highlighting 53 passages. 53! I would like to share them all here but I believe that would get me in trouble for copyright infringement. This book about plagues was somehow hilarious! I’ve worked healthcare for […]
Melissa (Formerly Published as George) by Alex Gino: Book Review
Oh my goodness. I inhaled this book in just a few hours and it left me with so much joy for George, I was almost in tears. George is afraid to tell anyone that she’s really a girl. What will they think? But as she slowly starts to share her secret, she finds so much love and acceptance. The road isn’t perfectly smooth—that would […]
Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary: Book Review
I’m 42 as I write this so it’s been 30 – 35 years since I read any of Beverly Cleary’s books. I always enjoyed them as a child, and can clearly picture exactly where they were on my local library’s shelves. I called it a good library day when I found a new one. Who am I kidding? Every library visit was a good library day, but…
The Night Witches by Garth Ennis: Book Review
I literally just finished this graphic novel and I’m about to flip back to page one and read it again. That isn’t to say it was perfect–it wasn’t–but I know that in my hurry to read it, I missed a lot of important details. Now that I know Anna Kharkova’s story, I can take my time and chew it over. I’m struggling with where to…
Aurora Borealice by Joan Steacy: Book Review
I usually rate books five stars if they rock my world or if I simply can’t bring myself to put them down. That’s not the case here. My rating reflects the subject matter. How frustrating it must be to have a sharp intellect but to be written off as “less than” because…
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins: Book Review
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this is one of those rare books–a second that is actually better than the first. In my humble opinion anyway. I read all 391 pages in two sittings, really in one day. I picked it up, got sucked into Katniss’s world, and never looked away. We got to see a little more of Gale in this story […]
The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett: Book Review
5 Stars. I read this back in college and loved it so much that I still have my copy from that class. I decided to re-read it when my husband and I visited the coast of Maine last month. I might love it even more now. The narrator, who remains unnamed, is accepted in this tightly-knit community, but she’s still enough of an […]
Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier: Book Review
Caitrin is on the run from a bad situation at home. With only the clothes on her back, a few coins, and her box of scribing tools, she just wants to get away. Her money runs out late one evening in the middle of nowhere. She finds her way to a village called Whistling Tor. Continue Reading…
One Child by Torey Hayden: Book Review
Torey Hayden is what I can only call a special ed teacher. At some less-politically-correct point in her career, she agreed to teach the “garbage class” (her words, not mine) that consisted of the abused, unteachable, unreachable kids. The class of eight students, a teacher’s aide who lacked even a high school diploma, a high Continue Reading…